We haven’t had a full-on flu epidemic for 25 years, but the infection is unpredictable and mutates regularly, so we can get it more than once. Flu is just nasty, and if we’re unlucky we can get serious, even fatal, complications, so it’s important to protect ourselves and groups who are the most vulnerable to it.
Is it flu – or something else?
Symptoms start suddenly within three days of catching it; they’re much worse than a cold, and you’re already infectious. You’ll notice fever, shivering, aches and pains, tiredness, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, a dry cough, vomiting and/or diarrhoea. You may then develop complications, especially if you’re in a high risk group (see ‘Who needs it?’, right) – usually bronchitis or pneumonia, but sometimes tonsillitis, ear infection, sinusitis…
